Appliances, such as refrigerators, may be equipped with many different lights. The lights may, for example, aid individuals in seeing what is held in the compartments of the refrigerator. On refrigerators having water, ice, or other liquid dispensing systems, the lights may aid in the alignment of a container, such as a cup, with the dispensing spout so as to prevent spills or other mishaps. Furthermore, the dispensing units may have a user interface that includes lights that can be turned on and off to designate buttons that alter the dispenser or refrigerator.
Many consumers prefer to keep their dispenser lights off, including lights designating the dispenser well or cavity. Turning off the lights may help to save energy. In addition, the lights may create an unwanted glow that can be an annoyance to the consumer. However, when other lights are off, it is difficult for consumers to see where to put their cup or container in relation to the dispenser and well. It may also be difficult to see where the buttons are that would turn on a light for the dispenser.
Furthermore, many refrigerators include interior lights that turn on automatically when the door or doors are opened to provide access to the interior. The lights may slowly gain brightness, or they may go directly from off to a full brightness level. In either case, the resulting light is rather bright. The light must be sufficient to be able to show all that is included in the interior of the cabinet. As such, the bright light can be too much for a consumer to handle when opening the door or doors in the dark. The light can be blinding and cause headaches, temporary blindness, or other problems.
Other lights are found on or in the refrigerator. These lights may be a user interface found on the refrigerator that needs to be engaged to light up. The interface includes a “sleep mode” that turns off the lights of the interface. A consumer must press a button to turn on the interface. The button may also change the settings of the refrigerator. Furthermore, when the interface is in “sleep mode”, the consumer may not be able to know what setting a dispenser is in, e.g. cubed ice, crushed ice, cold water, hot water, etc. Other lights may provide an alert or aid in viewing the refrigerator, but they also need to be pressed in order to illuminate.